See the 'cosmic masterpiece' created by a star nearing the end of its life

A new image from the world's most expensive space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, reveals a stunning and majestic sight: the nebula NGC 1514 – 1,500 light-years from Earth. Nicknamed the "Crystal Ball Nebula", NGC 1514's striking structure was created by the death throes of a massive star.

 

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the most detailed image of this nebula ever. Previously, in 2010, researcher Mike Ressler of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) observed NGC 1514 with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope system. Now, with James Webb's advanced MIRI (Mid-Infrared) instrument, he continues to discover faint rings that are only visible in infrared wavelengths, as well as previously unknown voids near the center of the nebula.

The nebula NGC 1514 has a strange shape because it is formed by a pair of stars at its core. One of the stars runs out of fuel, swells up and expels layers of dust and gas, leaving a hot core called a white dwarf. This star releases weak but fast-moving streams of matter (stellar winds), shaping the surrounding matter. Scientists believe that the matter is pushed into an hourglass shape with two bright rings due to the influence of the other star in the pair.

When this star is at the peak of its dispersion, the companion star may have come extremely close. That interaction can create unpredictable shapes, such as an hourglass shape instead of the usual sphere.

This discovery not only reveals the beauty of the universe but also helps astronomers better understand how stars end their lives and create space masterpieces.